Extremists Szocs Zoltan and Beke Istvan – sentenced to 10 months and 11 months imprisonment

Extremists Szocs Zoltan (photo) and Beke István, leaders of the group ‘64 Counties Youth Movement’ (HVIM) in Transylvania, were sentenced by the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Friday to 10 months and 8 days, respectively 11 months and 6 days imprisonment, in the file they are accused of planning to detonate an improvised explosive device in the events of December 1, 2015 at Târgu Secuiesc.

The two were indicted by the Directorate for Investigating organised Crime and terrorism (DIICOT) for instigating to the crime of attack against a community, committed under Law no.535/2004 – on preventing and combating terrorism and incitement to the crime of not respecting the regime of explosive materials.

The court changed the legal classification from crime of incitement to attempt against a community, into attempted action against the constitutional order, for which Szocs Zoltan and Beke István have been acquitted by the judges.

Also, the judges have changed the legal classification from not respecting the regime of explosive materials into unlawfully using pyrotechnics, for which Szocs Zoltan was sentenced to 10 months and 8 days in prison and Istvan Beke to 11 months and six days, both sentences to be served.

The court found, however, that the sentences have already been completed by the two, during the time when they were in custody and on house arrest.

Judges have ordered the confiscation from Istvan Beke of the pyrotechnical materials found at his domicile by DIICOT prosecutors, the two being forced to pay RON 10,000 as legal expenses.

The ruling is not final and can be appealed.

Szocs Zoltan and Beke István were indicted by DIICOT on May 19, 2016.

The Romanian investigators say that on October 10, 2015, during a meeting attended by the members of HVIM local organizations in Romania, Szőcs Zoltán instigated the members of HVIM cell in Târgu Secuiesc to make an improvised explosive device that would be detonated during the manifestations on Romania’s national day celebrated in Târgu Secuiesc. Beke Istvan Attila, HVIM’s member who was actually detained for trying to detonate the device, would have answered: “That’s a deal”.

Szőcs Zoltán allegedly told his accomplices they have to fire up several devices at the same time so that people should throw themselves down and the parade should be called off.

“Starting December 1, you must set up some 20 devices with chronometer…go figure, just while they are marching…you must do so that several devices should fire up simultaneously… it would be cool to be smoke, it would be a good bomb…I seem to see how they will throw themselves down, like even BBC will broadcast that…everybody would talk about us….to draw attention on the Szekler Land..to see that we up here, we are not afraid….we must do so that we should keep our hands clean that day…you must go somewhere else….it all has to start from the statue(…),” the investigators revealed.